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British scholar, translator, and writer on Islamic mysticism and literature, Reynold Alleyne Nicholson (1868-1945). He was raised in Keighley, England, attended Cambridge University for his undergraduate studies, and then he taught Persian and Arabic at the Universities of Cambridge and London. The writings of Rumi, the famous Persian poet and Sufi mystic, particularly his greatest work, "The Masnavi," are best known through Nicholson's translations. In addition, he translated and published analyses of other Sufi poets and thinkers including Attar, Hafiz, and Ibn Arabi. Nicholson's research on Islamic mysticism was esteemed in his day and is still seen as being significant now. He made a great contribution to the understanding of Sufism in the West by highlighting its intellectual and spiritual aspects and dispelling myths and stereotypes. The famous Edward Cadbury Medal was given to Nicholson in 1936. He was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society and the recipient of various honors and accolades for his contributions. Up to the time of his death in 1945, he kept up his writing and teaching careers and left behind a body of profound research on Islamic literature and mysticism.
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